Circular debt, royalty issue: Energy Policy – I
The new Energy Policy has been approved by the CCI (Council of Common Interest). We would like to examine and discuss the policy in a series of articles, taking up…
Debt and fiscal policy statements 2012-13
Two important documents, namely, Fiscal Policy Statement and Debt Policy Statement for 2012-13, released on 4th February 2013 by the Debt Policy Co-ordination Office of Ministry of Finance, while expressing…
Policy rate unchanged
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), met under the chairmanship of the Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on 10 March 2025, and decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at…
Till debt do us part
In Hamlet, Shakespeare’s character Polonius offers timeless advice to his son, Laertes, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be”, warning of the perils of debt and dependency. For Pakistan, this…
MPC clearly in a dilemma about how to respond to policy rate question
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is set to announce its monetary policy decision today. Over the past six reviews, the central bank has slashed interest rates by a cumulative…
Between debt and diplomacy
Pakistan finds itself trapped in a geopolitical and fiscal quandary. Islamabad’s strategic partnership with China – once hailed as a blueprint for economic transformation – has become increasingly problematic. Simultaneously,…
Time to end neoliberal monetary policy well overdue
‘This chapter has shown that the NMPC [New Monetary Policy Consensus] is limited in four important ways. Firstly, it is based on doubtful assumptions, unwarranted generalisations, overly optimistic expectations about…
Policy rate caution
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the current economic team of the government of Pakistan must stop hiding behind a veil of overly cautious monetary policies. The latest Monetary…
Budget, debt: Trump’s Treasury chief faces urgent challenges
President-elect Donald Trump’s new Treasury chief needs to hit the ground running once he takes office, tasked with rolling out his boss’s economic vision and grappling with the country’s debt…
A truly global economic policy needed
In an October 24 post by The Guardian, it highlighted the comments made by Kristalina Georgieva, the head of International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are highly indicative of a global…
